Learn what Amazon DSP prospecting is, how it works, and why brands use it to reach new audiences, support awareness, and drive fuller-funnel growth.
Quick answer: Prospecting is the part of Amazon DSP that helps brands reach people who have not yet engaged directly.
That makes it one of the main tools for audience expansion and fuller-funnel growth.
If retargeting is about recovering interest that already exists, prospecting is about finding new potential customers and bringing them into the funnel.
Amazon DSP prospecting is the use of audience-based campaigns to reach new people who are likely to be relevant to a brand or product.
Amazon positions DSP as a platform that can reach new and existing audiences across Amazon-owned and third-party apps and websites, which is one of the clearest reasons prospecting is a core DSP use case. (advertising.amazon.com)
Amazon DSP prospecting is about using audience-based media to find new potential customers before they have already engaged with the brand.
A lot of brands reach a point where lower-funnel campaigns are no longer enough to keep growth moving efficiently.
They may already be capturing the demand that exists. The next challenge is creating or expanding demand by reaching new relevant audiences earlier in the journey.
That is where prospecting matters.
It can help brands:
At a simple level, prospecting works like this:
The key point is that prospecting should be judged differently from retargeting. It is earlier in the funnel and usually has a different job.
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Audience expansion | Helps brands reach people who have not engaged directly yet. |
| Funnel role | Supports upper-funnel and mid-funnel growth rather than only direct recovery. |
| Media approach | Uses audience-based programmatic buying instead of relying only on search intent. |
| Strategic value | Builds awareness, supports discovery, and creates future retargeting opportunities. |
A stronger prospecting setup usually includes:
Going too broad
Very broad reach can increase delivery, but it often weakens relevance and makes optimization harder.
Expecting direct-response performance too early
Prospecting should not always be judged by the same immediate standards as retargeting.
Weak creative for new audiences
New audiences often need clearer brand or product explanation than warmer users do.
No follow-up plan
Prospecting works better when there is a clear path into retargeting, lower-funnel support, or future campaign sequencing.
Prospecting targets new audiences.
Retargeting re-engages people who already showed interest.
Both are useful, but they solve different problems. Good DSP strategy usually keeps those roles clearly separated.
Prospecting is often useful when:
Amazon DSP prospecting is the use of audience-based campaigns to reach new people who are likely to be relevant to your brand. It matters because it helps expand reach, support awareness, and build the top and middle of the funnel more deliberately than search-only advertising can. (advertising.amazon.com)
The value of Amazon DSP prospecting is not just that it reaches more people. It is that it helps brands reach the right new people in a more deliberate, audience-led way.
Amazon DSP prospecting is the use of audience-based campaigns to reach new potential customers who have not directly engaged with your brand yet.
It works by targeting new relevant audiences through DSP campaigns across Amazon-owned and third-party inventory. (advertising.amazon.com)
Prospecting reaches new audiences, while retargeting re-engages people who already showed interest.
Because it is designed to help advertisers reach new and existing audiences using audience-based programmatic buying. (advertising.amazon.com)
Other posts in the same category, if this one was useful.
Learn how Amazon DSP pricing works, what affects cost, and how self-service, managed service, formats, and campaign structure influence overall spend.
Learn which Amazon DSP reporting metrics matter most, how to interpret them, and how brands should think about performance by campaign role and funnel stage.
Learn the main Amazon DSP requirements, including who can use it, service model options, creative readiness, audience planning, and campaign setup considerations.
